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What`s new in non-Hodgkin lymphoma research?

Research into the causes, prevention, and treatment of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is being done in many medical centers throughout the world.

Genetics

Scientists are making great progress in learning about the genetics of lymphoma. They are learning more about how genes change to make cells grow too fast, live too long, and not grow into mature cells. This research may help them to find drugs to block the process.

New tests to find and classify lymphoma are also being studied. Some of these tests might be able to predict how the cancer will respond to chemo, to show how completely the cancer has been destroyed by treatment, or to find out whether the cancer is likely to come back (relapse).

Treatment

Much of the research being done on NHL is focused on looking at new and better ways to treat this disease.

Chemotherapy

New chemotherapy (chemo) drugs are being studied in clinical trials. In recent years, these studies have led to the approval of newer drugs for use against certain types of lymphoma. Others studies are looking at new ways to combine drugs using different doses or drugs in a different order.

Targeted therapies

As researchers have learned more about cancer cells, they have developed newer drugs that target certain parts of these cells. These are different from standard chemo drugs, which work by attacking all cells that are growing quickly. The newer drugs focus on the cancer cells. They often have different side effects, and they work in some cases where chemo doesn't. These drugs are now being studied in clinical trials.

Lymphoma vaccines

Scientists are also looking at whether it's possible to use a vaccine to help a person's immune system reject the lymphoma. Doctors have known for some time that people's immune systems may help fight their cancer. In rare cases, these people's immune systems have killed the cancers, and they have been cured. Scientists are now searching for ways to boost this immune reaction by the use of vaccines.

Unlike vaccines in children, the goal of these vaccines is to create an immune reaction in people who already have an early cancer or to keep the cancer from coming back after treatment. So far, there have been a few successes with this approach. It is a major area of research in lymphoma treatment. At this time lymphoma vaccines are only available in clinical trials.